Reference:Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar

Grammar Points by Chapter

1. Introduction
   • Never Translate Literally, WORD-FOR-WORD! Translate the Gist of What's Being Said
2. Chapter One Word Order
   • (1) Basic word order
   • (2) Action and location: someone does something somewhere
   • (3) Action and time: when somebody does something
   • (4) Word order for expressing WHEN something happened
   • (5) Word order for duration of time: how long someone did something
   • (6) Placement of "why" in a question
3. Chapter Two Time Expressions
   • (1) Expressing simultaneous actions
   • (2) To say "again": zài 再 vs. yòu 又
   • (3) "After"/"Later": yǐhòu 以后 vs. ránhòu 然后
   • (4) " Last week, this week, next week" and " last month, this month, next month" follow the same pattern, with shàng 上 indicating "last ... , " zhè/zhèi 这 indicating "this ... , " and xià 下 indicating " next ... "
4. Chapter Three Nouns
   • (1) Plurals in Chinese
   • (2) When counting things, measure words must always be used between the number and the noun
   • (3) This and that
   • (4) Nouns for nationalities and languages
   • (5) All (of some noun): dōu 都 vs. suǒyǒu de 所有的
   • (6) How to express the indefinites
   • (7) How to express not even one bit of something
   • (8) Location words
5. Chapter Four Verbs
   • (1) Past tense
   • (2) Present tense
   • (3) Future tense
   • (4) The word "it" is usually implied by the verb
   • (5) Helping verbs (prepositions in English)
   • (6) Going, coming, returning
   • (7) The bǎ 把 pattern with verbs
   • (8) The shì... de 是…的 pattern for past tense actions
   • (9) The different ways to express passive voice (" was... by... ")
6. Chapter Five Adjectives
   • (1) Adjectives: general rules
   • (2) How to translate "bad" depends on the meaning of "bad"
   • (3) Use bùcuò 不错，"not bad," when you mean "quite good"
   • (4) Different ways to say "nice"
   • (5) Different ways to say "pretty" or "beautiful," depending on the subject
   • (6) Comparisons: A bǐ 比 B
   • (7) Negative comparisons: A is not as [adjective] as B
7. Chapter Six Various Uses of the Particle le 了
   • Le 了 is used after action verbs in the past tense
   • Le 了 is used after adjectives to express "change of status," i.e.,"become... "
   • Le 了 is used after verbs to express "imminent action," i.e., something just about to happen
   • Le 了 is used with verbs or adjectives in the negative to express "not any more"
8. Chapter Seven Various Uses of the Particle de: de 的 vs. de 得 vs. de 地
   • The uses of de 的
   • The uses of de 得
   • The uses of de 地
9. Chapter Eight Conjunctions: and, or
   • (1) Different ways to say "and" depend on usage
   • (2) How to say "or" in Chinese
10. Chapter Nine Subordinate Clauses
    • (1) Connecting sentences with "who"/"that"
    • (2) In Chinese, "if... then..." is expressed in three levels of formality
    • (3) "As soon as... (then)..." = yī... jiù 一…就…
    • (4) "